Continuation of Witch's Garden
by briogirl34
Summary: Warning. Do not Read unless you have read the Witch's Garden on Fictionpress. you will not understand.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't any marvel characters mentioned._

Episode 6

When Crystal got home, she went directly to her bedroom before her brother could pepper her with questions as to why she was being so ambiguous. She sat down on her bed and placed her head in her hands, feeling frustrated and alone. She didn't understand why she was the only one who could see the cottage. Perhaps I'm hallucinating, Crystal thought to herself. Well, there's only one way to find out right? She got up and went out of her bedroom, intending re-visit George's front yard. No sooner had she emerged from her bedroom that Andrew pounced upon his first opportunity to interrogate her. "Dude! _What's_ up? Why are you acting freaky? You say 'Later, Andrew,' but when 'later' comes you lock yourself in your room without a word about why you were acting psycho then calm."

Crystal paused. Then she said, "I'm going back to George's house, do you want to come?"

He looked bewildered. "What kind of answer is that?"

"Are you coming?"

"Well, yeah, but--"

"Okay. Let's roll."

She walked out the door before Andrew could say anything else.

The instant Crystal saw the cottage, she jumped off her bike and ran toward it, palms outstretched. Andrew stared. "What the-- what are you doing?" he asked in utter confusion.

Crystal didn't answer. Instead she kept running, arms out, until the flat of her palm hit the wall of cottage. She ran her hands over the smooth, white wood, feeling the ridges and bumps. She breathed out, relieved that she hadn't been hallucinating. Then she glanced back at Andrew and realized she hadn't solved the initial problem, because he looked as if he were ready to take her to a psychiatrist.

"Uh--Crystal?"

Again, she didn't respond. She was contemplating if she should go inside to investigate who the witch was keeping presently. Was the witch there right now? The porch window was open large enough for her to climb through. She peered in. It didn't look as if there was anyone home, so she decided to proceed with caution. Climbing carefully over the windowsill, she slipped into the house. Nearly a second after she had entered the house, she heard Andrew shouting. "Oh my--Crystal, I can't see you!! _Where the heck are you going_?!"

She stuck her head back out the window. "Now do you believe me?"

For a moment he didn't say anything, he just stood awkwardly in astonishment and realization. "Um, yeah," he replied. "Can you see the cottage?" she asked.

He nodded. "Well, are you coming?"

"Yeah," he replied.

He hurried over to the window and climbed in. "Boy, that was strange. Soo.. now what?"

"Well, we should see if _she's keeping anyone here right now."_

"_Right."_

_They searched the house from top to bottom, but encountered nothing suspicious or menacing. Just as they were about to leave, Crystal came upon a revelation. She gasped and grabbed her brother just as he was walking out the door._

"_What?" he grunted irritably. "I've got it, Andy!! I know why you couldn't see the cottage right away. Remember what the note said about first believing in the other city?! Well, same goes for the cottage. When I started climbing through the window, you couldn't see me because I was going into something that was invisible to you. Then you panicked, right, and I bet you thought 'well maybe she's right', right?"_

"_Yeah.. so?"_

"_So when you started to believe me, you started to see some of the cottage, right?"_

"_Right, but--"_

"_So when you started seeing some of it, you believed more and the more you believed the more you saw! I'm dead sure that's it." "Oh my gosh! You're right, it all makes sense now. But what you said about the city. What the note said about 'the other New York.' If all of that is true, then there must be a whole other city waiting out there. And it makes sense now, because the note said that it was 'on top of the Big Apple'. Crystal gaped. "There's only one way to find out," she whispered. _

_They stepped outside. Crystal drew in a sharp breath at the scene now before her eyes. The "other New York" was quite literally on top of the original. Buildings were layered on top of each other oddly, kind of like boxes that fit inside of each other, except they weren't so exact. Corners stuck out at edges, and windows protruded out at weird angles. It was sort of like seeing double. But weirder than that, because the images were not blurry or indistinct. There were also houses, traffic lights, roads, vendors, bus stations, and billboards that had not been there ten minutes ago. Crystal stared in amazement. It seemed so impossible, yet she was seeing it for real with her own eyes. "Andy, look at this! It's incredible!" she cried. Andrew didn't reply. Instead, he was staring open mouthed at a skyscraper down the block. "Andy?"_

"_Hey, do you see that guy dressed in red and blue? He's climbing on that skyscraper down the block." Crystal squinted. Sure enough, there was a figure dressed in red and blue climbing on skyscraper. A white strand shot out of his wrist and attached to a street lamp not far from the skyscraper. Then he leaped off his perch and swung out, shooting another white strand out of his wrist. Suddenly, Crystal got a overwhelming sense déjà vu. I've seen this guy before, she thought to herself. Andrew was yelling and pointing. "OH MY GOSH!! It's Spiderman! People, look!! What is your problem?? Can't you see him?! He exists!! He's real! Open your eyes!"_

_A man passing by stared at Andrew incredulously. "Kid, shut up. Spiderman is fictional." But Crystal didn't know why the man wasn't registering, he was looking straight at Spiderman. Suddenly it wasn't just Spiderman. It was Captain America and Maximum Ride, too. And the Justice League as well. Andrew ran after Spiderman, shouting on the top of his lungs, "HEY, WAIT UP! Don't you know who you are?! You are so stinkin' famous, how could you be so casual! Can I have your autograph? I'm like, your biggest fan!!"_

"_Nope, sorry, kid. Short on time," the lionized superhero called as he vanished around a city block. Crystal groaned and rolled her eyes. She grabbed Andrew and pulled him back. "Andy, calm down."_

"_You're crazy, sis! There are superheroes everywhere and you're just standing there!" "Andy! Be quiet! Other people can't see him, remember? They don't believe in the other New York."_

"_Oh." He shrugged her off and ran after Maximum Ride, hoping she would be more willing to give an autograph. Crystal groaned. Her brother could be such a delinquent at times. All of a sudden, she felt a warm gust of air. Whoa, she thought. What was that? She turned around to see a flaming man behind her. She wondered if he was alright, but he seemed fine. Hmm, he must be some kind of superhero, she thought._

_He smiled and saluted Captain America smartly as he flew away. She stared at him, feeling overwhelmed. Can all this really be happening? When one thinks about it, it seems so far-fetched and ridiculous, she thought. Maybe Andrew and I are truly crazy after all. Consequently, she became aware that someone was talking to her. "Hey. Hey you, girl. And boy over there, who was yelling 'bout Spiderman." Crystal turned around. The flaming man was approaching her and Andrew, grinning._

"_You guys from out of town? I mean, that was pretty weird, with you knowing who he was, but acting like he was some fictional character."_

"_But I thought he was! I mean, isn't it weird that people make comics about him? Even though he's real? "_

_The fiery young man looked bewildered. _

"_What?" he said, blinking. "I mean, if he's real, why do people write down his bio in comic form? That's just plain weird. Or are the comics just made up stories about a real person? Geez, this is so freaky."_

"_Whoa! I don't think I quite catch your drift. What exactly are you talking about? People don't make comics about Spidey." "Well yeah they do! They made a movie, too. Movies, I should say."_

"_Uh.. I think you guys need help. Do your parents know you, uh, think like that?"_

"_Yeah. Why?"_

"_Well, tell them its about time they did something about it," he replied, glancing at the time on a bank's ticker. "Would you look at the time! Sorry, but I gotta scoot." And with that, he was gone. _

"_That guy must some kind of superhero. I think I did hear of a superhero with fire abilities somewhere… four, I think. Four something. Or something four," Crystal said. _

"_Hmm. Fantastic Four, I think."_

"_That's it! Fantastic Four." She paused. "Andrew, a thought just occurred to me. If all the buildings here are overlapping, what about our house? Is there another house on top of our house?"_

"_Oh no. We'd better go find out." But it was as Crystal had thought. There was, in fact, a rather portly but strange house overlapping theirs. The "other" house was quite peculiar indeed, the front yard contained pineapple bushes and banana palms. Along with barbed and electric wire fence around the entire perimeter of the lot. "Oh great! How do we get into our own home?" Andrew groaned. "Hey look! There's a gate." They ran over to it, feeling hopeful. But their hopes were crushed as soon as they got a better look at it. There were two nasty-looking machine guns attached to the gateposts. When they approached, the guns trained on them and a computerized voice demanded that they identify themselves. "Well, maybe we could climb over it," she suggested._

"_And die trying? Go ahead. But count me out. Really out." "How about a ladder? Like a super tall one. That might get us over." "Like where do we get a 'super tall' ladder?" _

_Crystal glanced down the street at a building site just down the street. "Perfect," she said. _


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 7 

Not long after their arrival at the building site, they spotted a large pickup truck with assortment of tools in the bed. Among the tools was a ladder that looked like it could extend at least 2 stories high. At first, Crystal had been skeptical. They certainly couldn't use it twice, or three times, or however many times a day they had to go in and out of the house. The men at the construction site needed it. But then she figured that once they got back to their house, they could use some of the wood in their garage to make their own ladder. First, she looked around to make sure none of the construction workers were looking. Then she boldly marched over to the pickup truck and attempted to haul the ladder from the bed. It was mega-heavy. "Andy, help me!"

"Crystal, we can't just take it!"

"Yeah, we can. Its called--prolonged borrowing." "Heh. Yeah. Right. Like guys here won't miss it."

"That's why when we get home, we've gotta hurry and make our own!'

He made a face. "Well, fine. But if we get in trouble _you're_ to blame." When they got back to their house, they put the ladder over the fence and climbed over carefully. As soon as they were in their front yard, they ran to the garage and started on their own ladder pronto. It wasn't long before their mom poked her head out the door, curious as to what they were doing.

"Dearest, what on earth are you doing?"

"Mom.. don't call me that, please. We're just, uh, working on an art project." "Art project? Well, that's a pretty strange looking art project." "Yeah, well, we're doing a section on abstract art so, uh, yeah." "Oh. Is Andrew helping you?"

"Uh, yeah." "Oh, well, don't be late for supper, dear." She went back inside.

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Why does she always have to call me that?" she muttered to herself. "Crystal, someone lives here in this other house probably, right?"

"Duh, yeah." Then she froze. "Oh. Crud," she whispered.

Around seven, they finished. Crystal was just heading in for dinner when Andrew stopped her. He pointed at a car pulling into the driveway of the other house. It came to halt in front of the garage. A man who looked about thirtyish stepped out of the car carrying a bouquet of flowers. A woman stepped out of the house to greet him. She smiled when she saw the flowers, and they hugged. "Happy Birthday, darling," he said as he gave the flowers to her. 

She looked enamored. They kissed. Crystal and Andrew turned away. Great! Crystal thought as she watched the happy couple go inside. If they ever see us here, I don't know what I'll do. Or_ we'll _do, for that matter. They went inside. And nearly had a heart attack when they saw the interior of their own home. Okay, maybe seeing buildings overlap on the outside was weird, but being on the inside was super freaky. Walls intersected at weird angles. There was double furniture, like four couches and two TVs, one hanging out of the ceiling and one on the floor where a regular TV should be. And double appliances too, like two refrigerators and two stoves. In fact, everything was double. But the weirdest part was that their mom and dad seemed completely oblivious to the young couple that had just walked in. And the young couple seemed just as unaware.

Their mom smiled, "Oh, darlings, its about time you got in. Well, you're just in time for dinner." "Oh, man. Our house is totally messed up," Andrew whispered. "What's that, dearest?"

"Oh, nothing. I just need some time to myself to think." "Well, you better not keep us waiting. You know how your father is when you kids don't come to dinner." She headed for the dining room, and as she was going, walked right through the man they'd seen earlier. Although both of them seemed completely unmindful of each other. Crystal screamed and looked as if she might pass out. "Dearest? Are you alright?" her mom called from the dining room. 

"Yeah. It was just a spider." At that moment, the man became aware of their presence due to Crystal's outburst. At first, he seemed puzzled and a bit dismayed, then he asked her if she was alright. She nodded, too shocked to respond in any other manner. Subsequently Andrew decided that since they were living very near to one another, they might as well get to know each other. "Hi, I'm Andrew," he said, holding out his hand. "What's your name?"

He looked at him curiously and cocked an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

It was Andrew's turn to be puzzled. "No, why would I?"

The man smiled. For some reason, he seemed to think that it was better that Andrew didn't know. "Well, then. I am Dr. Richards." "Can I call you by your first name?"

"Certainly."

"What is it?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's Reed." "Oh, okay. Hi. Reed. We live here."

The second Andrew said those words he regretted them, but it was a bit too late. Reed looked at him incredulously and appeared quite bewildered. Just then, their mom came into the room. "Andrew, who are you talking to?" "Uh, just Crystal," Andrew said, glancing anxiously at his sister.

"Oh, uh, we were just talking about some kid at school," Crystal lied. "Oh, well. Are you sure you're feeling alright? You two have been acting so strangely of late." "Yeah, we're fine." "But if you _are not feeling well, don't be afraid to tell me, okay? I'm not a stranger." They nodded. She smiled and went back to the dining room. Reed stared at them. "Might I ask who you are talking to?" Subsequently, they realized they should have just ignored what their mother had said, because now Reed thought that they were acting strange as well. "Uh, no one. Just uh, um…." Andrew couldn't think of what else to say. _

_Reed frowned, suddenly seeming inquisitive. "Exactly how did you get into my location of residence?"_

"_We used a ladder?"_

"_A ladder? May I ask what are you are doing here, in particular?" "Well, like I said, we live here. Kind of." He raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"_

"_I don't know. Since we were born, I guess. But you don't really know that, because we don't really live here. Well, we do. But we don't. I mean--" He sighed. Reed looked interested. "Perhaps as in a parallel dimesion?"_

"_Yeah! Kind of like that," Crystal exclaimed. Reed placed a hand on his chin and looked thoughtful. "That's an interesting notion." For a moment, it was quiet. Then Andrew and Crystal remembered that dinner was waiting. "Well, uh, nice talking to you. But we kind of have to go eat dinner now, so see you around." They went into the dining room, where their mother and father were waiting. Their father scowled. "Where have you two been all day? You kids been about town? First thing you do when you get home is run outside to work on some crazy art project 'till seven. Geez, barely get to see my own children." "Sorry," they mumbled. "Now, what on earth could have been keeping you dears for so long? It's not like you to be late for dinner," their mother commented. "Sorry, Mom, we promise not to do it again," Crystal said. _

"_Well, you better not. Are you sure you kids are feeling alright?"_

"_Yeah. We're fine. Don't worry about us, Mom."_

_The next morning, both Andrew and Crystal woke up late and missed the bus. As if things couldn't get any worse, their parents had also both left for work. _

_"Great," groaned Crystal, "Now what?"_

_At that moment, they saw Reed heading for his car. Suddenly, a bold thought struck Crystal._

_Maybe Reed could give them a ride to school?_


End file.
